Skip a module or chapter?

 Here we go again!  I’m going to ruffle a few feathers with a bit of heresy.  Sometimes it’s okay to skip a module or chapter.  Are you wading through Module 2 of the second edition of Exploring Creation with Chemistry?  Is your teen in tears over specific heat?  (A few of our kiddos have come close.)  Skip it and move on to Module 3–especially if you did Experiment 2.1 and most of the questions.  Really.  The third edition moved Module 2 to Module 12, which should tell you something.  Rob and I are working like crazy one-on-one with teens to get through specific heat and problem sets.  Both of us have loads and loads of experience.  (Rob teaches math.)  This is a hard concept!

You are going to be stumped.  Another example is Experiment 5.1, Measuring the Width of a Molecule.  There is a ton of math and inferences.  If both your teen and you are in tears, stop.  You might want to copy the sequence of math equations from the slide deck to see if the lesson makes sense.  If not, so what?  No one is going to ask if you skipped the experiment.  Ever.

Instead, do your best.  Try to complete two-thirds of the textbook.  Do as many experiments as possible.  Give the tough material, such as Gas Laws a good try.  But, don’t be defeated by a single module or lab and give up on Chemistry entirely.  Put aside the hardest lessons.  Ask friends if they have encountered the same problems.  Did they figure out specific heat?  Could they show your teen and you how to proceed?  Would it be nice to say you worked through every single concept in the Apologia Chemistry textbook?  Sure.  But sometimes you hit a road block. If your teen, your husband, and you have invested hours trying to make sense of a single idea, such as specific heat, without any success, quit.  Stop beating yourself up!  Your teen is still taking a hard subject and you can only do what you can do.